Defending state champ Latrobe hockey team expects opponents' best

Eric Schmadel | Tribune-Review - Latrobe's Dalton Hunter brings the puck up ice as Adam Ferguson trails him during their PIHL playoff game against Hampton on March 7, 2013, at Kirk S. Nevin Arean in Greensburg.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Latrobe's Adam Ferguson celebrates his goal with Christopher Johnson during the second period of the PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup championship game against Pine-Richland on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, at Consol Energy Center.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review - Greater Latrobe's Brendan Johns celebrates his goal with Christopher Johnson during the third period of the PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup championship game against Pine-Richland Wednesday, March 20, 2013, at Consol Energy Center.

Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

By Alex Oltmanns

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, 9:00 p.m.

Fresh off a state championship and a season that saw the Latrobe ice hockey team finish 20-3, the Wildcats return to the ice looking to repeat in the 2013-14 campaign.

But if the start of the season is any indication, another Pennsylvania Cup isn't going to be gift wrapped for the Wildcats.

After going 1-2 in the St. Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off Tournament where Latrobe defeated perennial Class A powerhouse Mars before losing to Class AAA teams Canon-McMillan and eventual champion Seneca Valley, it's evident the Wildcats will get their opponents' best effort after their successful 2012-13 campaign.

“They know we've got the target on our back and have got to work hard,” Latrobe coach John Winebrenner said. “The team goal is to get back to states and repeat.

“The boys already know from St. Margaret's it's going to take a lot of hard work to get back there. Teams aren't just going to hand it to us. We have a target on our backs so it's a little added pressure that we've got, and we have to overcome that every time we play somebody.”

After losing leading scorer Josh Singley, defenseman Robert Vasinko and goalie Shane Brudnok to graduation, Latrobe has some key pieces to replace but returns several strong players from last season's team as well.

Ferguson, a senior, is the top returning scorer after tallying 43 points.

Those five combined for 70 goals last season and return as five of the Wildcats' top seven scorers from a year ago.

John Winebrenner labeled Hunter, a member of the U-16 Pittsburgh Penguins Elite team, as the team's top offensive player who has a rare combination of size and speed.

“With his size he's more like a power player,” John Winebrenner said. “He's got tremendous speed and size to go along with it. Nobody will get in his way normally.”

The Wildcats figure to be strong defensively as well, returning senior Joe Wright as well as Drew Tonks. Sophomore blue liner Daniel Staffen, Hunter's U-16 Penguins Elite teammate, also returns and adds skill and toughness to the defensive group.

Junior goalie Tim Ruppen replaces Brudnok between the pipes. Despite allowing five goals to Seneca Valley in the St. Margaret's tournament, Ruppen allowed just two goals in the Wildcats' other two games, an encouraging sign for John Winebrenner.

“He's showed some promise early in the season, shown he's ready to step up to the challenge,” he said.

Nathan Winebrenner led Latrobe with three points in the St. Margaret's tournament, while Hunter chipped in with two goals in just two games.

“I was pleased with what I saw,” John Winebrenner said. “We came up a little short but we were in a tough bracket with Mars, Canon-McMillan and Seneca Valley.”

While defending their title won't be easy, the Wildcats plan to stick to their aggressive offense from a season ago that was so successful and approach each game with the same mindset on their road to a title defense.

“One game at a time, that's the way we approached last season and that's the way we're going to approach this season,” John Winebrenner said.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.